It’s the fourth day of Christmas, and we may still be working our way back into whatever “normal” looks like for us. The world around us seems to shift gears with relative ease. “Happy Holidays” has been replaced with “Happy New Year”; Christmas candy has been discounted to make room for pink and red Valentine’s Day sweets; radio stations have purged holiday music from their playlists and replaced it with year-end greatest hits countdowns.
For RevGals and Pals in our blogging community, the shift doesn’t happen so quickly. Our writers are taking time this week to consider the mystery-miracle of incarnation.
In her blog Chaplainhood, Joy Freeman reflects on God entering our world in such a vulnerable form. “Did you come as a child because that was the only way we would open ourselves to the awe, wonder and mystery of You making Yourself fully present on earth?”
God’s choice to become fully human to walk alongside us calls us to look at things in their proper perspective. Milton Brasher-Cunningham, writing in Don’t Eat Alone, begins this week’s blog post with a reminder of that perspective. “’The first rule of theology is there is a God and it’s not me’… One of my favorite scenes is when Job is full-on arguing with God about all that has gone wrong. God listens, and even shows compassion, but then also challenges Job to remember the first rule by basically saying, ‘You build a whale or make the sun come up and then we’ll talk.’”
Reflecting on perspectives of significance and insignificance, Kristin Berkey-Abbott marvels at the gift of God’s incarnation into our insignificant world. “It’s the time of the year when many of us start beating ourselves up for what we haven’t accomplished in the past year. It’s the time of year when we make resolutions, most of which are designed to make us more significant, not less. This year, let us embrace our insignificance and let us remember that God often uses insignificance to make major revelations.” Her blog is Liberation Theology Lutheran.
In Standing on the Side of Love, Marguerite Sheehan reminds us that sometimes, incarnation catches us by surprise. “It was hard to brush aside the sense that there was an angel in the room announcing something that I at least was not ready to hear. But of course, as always, angels in stories like this demand answers.”
“His wife pointed out one of his hands. It was outstretched, and clenched, as if he was holding someone’s hand. With one hand, he would hold on to us. But with his other hand, he was holding on to Jesus. Or Jesus was holding onto him.” In her blog, Faith in Community, Diane Roth reminds us that an incarnate God is one who holds us by the hand, from the beginning of our earthly life to the end, and beyond.
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. In her Christmas Eve post in her blog Pulpit Shenanigans, Shannon Meacham offers both a picture and insightful words to help us think about God’s incarnation into human history. Shannon has graciously given permission to use her words and picture as the image included in this post.
These are just a few of the 100+ new blog posts from members of the RevGals blogging community. If you would like to read more, go to our web page (www.revgalblogpals.org) and look for the button labeled “Our Blogging Community.” When you visit blogs on this list, please leave a Like or a comment so the bloggers will know that you appreciate their work.
Barbara Bruneau is a retired Lutheran pastor, living in southeastern Minnesota. She is a knitter, a weaver, and a very occasional blogger at An Explosion of Texture and Color.
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